THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming out. (Applause.) I can't
thank you enough for this fantastic Utah welcome. I am delighted to be
here in Salt Lake City. (Applause.) My only regret is that Laura is
not here to see this great crowd. (Applause.) She sends her best, she
sends her love.

I want to thank the Governor for being here today. Governor, thank you
for coming. I want to thank your two fine United States Senators,
Senator Hatch and Bennett for joining us. (Applause.) I thank
Congressmen Matheson, Bishop and Cannon for being here, as well. I want
to thank you all for coming.

Most of all, I want to thank you all for staying up a little past your
bedtime, for some of you, to greet me. (Applause.)

I'm looking forward to talking tomorrow to our veterans. (Applause.)
I'm going to tell the veterans how much America appreciates their
service to the United States of America. (Applause.) And I'm going to
thank our veterans for setting such a great example for incredibly fine
men and women who wear the uniform of the United States military today.
(Applause.)

These are challenging times. I wish I could report to you that all is
well. But there's still an enemy that wants to harm the United States
of America because of what we stand for. We learned that lesson earlier
this month, when because of the good work of our friends in Great
Britain, and some of our own help, we stopped a terrorist plot against
the United States. This is the challenge of our time, and my most
important duty. And the most important duty of our government is to
protect the American people from further attack. (Applause.)

We will stay on the offense and defeat the terrorists abroad so we do
not have to face them here at home. (Applause.) And as we do so, we'll
remember the power of freedom and liberty to transform regions of hate
to regions of compassion. I believe there's an Almighty, and I believe
the great gift of the Almighty to every man and woman on the Earth is
the desire to live in freedom. (Applause.)

Iraq is the central front in this war on terror. If we leave the
streets of Baghdad before the job is done, we will have to face the
terrorists in our own cities. We will stay the course, we will help
this young Iraqi democracy succeed, and victory in Iraq will be a major
ideological triumph in the struggle of the 21st century. (Applause.)

I firmly believe we'll succeed. We'll succeed in spreading liberty.
And as we do so, we can say that this generation did our duty and laid
the foundation of peace for generations to come. (Applause.)

For those of you with loved ones in the United States military, I thank
you from the bottom of my heart. (Applause.) I can't tell you how
proud I am to be the Commander-in-Chief of such a fantastic group of
young men and women. (Applause.) And I'll make this pledge to you:
Our government will make sure your loved ones have all the support, all
the help, all the training necessary to do their job of defending
freedom, defending America, and spreading liberty that will yield the
peace we all want. (Applause.)

So I want to thank you all for coming. It warms my heart to see such a
huge crowd. May God bless the great state of Utah, and may God bless
America. Thank you all very much. (Applause.)